Pittsburgh, PA, March 30, 2011–Increased referrals from around the country and surgeons’ ability to use donor lungs once considered unsuitable contributed to a record 131 lung transplants at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center last year, officials said Tuesday.
The 2010 total was the most among the nation’s 66 lung transplant centers. The centers performed a total of 1,771 lung transplants, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, a nonprofit organization that tracks organ transplants for the federal government.
The growth of UPMC’s program is due, in part, to increased transplants among patients with more complicated conditions, said Dr. Joseph Pilewski, transplant pulmonologist and medical director of the UPMC Lung Transplantation Program.